Troop surge brings progress to war-torn Afghan province

Camp Pendleton Marine general ends year in command

The oversubscribed local security force points to a grave uncertainty hanging over the progress in Helmand: whether it can be sustained when the United States withdraws from Afghanistan and reduces foreign aid.

During Pelosi’s visit to Marjah, the senior U.S. State Department representative in southern Afghanistan, Andrew S.E. Erickson, said their challenge on the civilian side has been to keep pace with the security gains while being careful not to outstrip the long-term capacity of the Afghan government and economy.

Their mission is not “to build Switzerland here, because it won’t happen, but attempt to build a sustainable agricultural economy such as existed in the ’70s before the Soviet invasion and before the Taliban ruined everything,” he said.

Mills said he expects the insurgents to muster a counterattack later this year when the poppy harvest opens the traditional fighting season. But he does not believe that Afghanistan is destined to be the “graveyard of empires,” as one author described it. America will prevail where other great powers failed, he said, because “we are not conquering this country. We haven’t even asked for the room to bury our dead.”

The Afghan people see the investment the United States and its international allies have made in schools, roads and other projects that make their lives better and “they understand why we are here,” Mills said. “We don’t want anything from Afghanistan other than the establishment of a peaceful government that serves the people of Afghanistan and doesn’t allow terrorists to come back and live here.”

On the parade deck Saturday at Camp Leatherneck, the main base of Marine operations in Afghanistan, Mills said farewell to a crowd of military and civilian dignitaries and his inner circle of Afghan colleagues.

“I kind of feel like the guy walking out in the middle of the movie. But it’s OK, because I know how this movie is going to end,” he said.